SF to Google: Put Me in, Coach

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SAN FRANCISCO - MAY 26: A row of luxury homes are seen near the Golden Gate Bridge May 26, 2005 in the Sea Cliff neighborhood of San Francisco, California. According to a study released Wednesday by San Francisco's First Republic Bank, the average luxury home in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is defined as homes with values above the $1 million, rose nearly 6 percent between the fourth quarter of 2004 and the first quarter of 2005 to an average of $2.7 million, up $329,000 from one year ago. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Updated at 9:45 AM PDT on Wednesday, Mar 24, 2010

The city of San Francisco is the latest to announce plans to submit a proposal to Google Inc. to build a pilot high-speed broadband network in the City.

The offer is published to be for any community that has between 50,000 and 500,000 residents. San Francisco is in the 800k territory, but that is not stopping the city from putting up its hand and saying "pick me, pick me!"

Google announced its plan for an experimental fiber network last month and is looking for locations to test it. The Mountain View-based company hopes to provide communities with Internet speeds of one gigabit per second, 100 times faster than current speeds for most Internet users.

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Other cities have mounted high-profile campaigns, such as Topeka, Kan., which unofficially and temporarily renamed itself Google, Kan., this month.

"We respect the spirit of competition this initiative has inspired," said Tony Winnicker, spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom, "but with respect to other communities, we believe San Francisco already distinguishes itself by the companies and industries that are choosing to locate here, and by our diverse population."

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"Google is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We'll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people."

The Google network would come at no cost to the city, encourage innovation, and would be "open access," the resolution says.

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"We think San Francisco is a center of high technology and clean tech, biotechnology and life sciences," said Winnicker. "We think that it's a great place to pilot and pioneer this broadband initiative."

Winnicker said the city's Department of Technology would submit a proposal by the end of the week, which is Google's deadline in the competition.

In 2007, a bid to have Google set up a free wireless Internet network throughout the City was scuttled.

Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution urging the Department of Technology to submit a proposal for the broadband fiber network.

The resolution states that the Department of Technology has found that deploying a fiber network throughout San Francisco "has become a necessary and achievable goal in today's high technology environment, and such deployment would provide immense social and economic benefits to San Francisco."

A 2007 city estimate suggested building a network could cost the city more than $500 million and take up to 15 years, according to the resolution.